Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-04-23

VIVIAN y . ~ ANA
a thing, however, was one thing; to read it
calmly and coldly was another.
When Dick had once made up his mind
that escape was only possible by one method,
he gave his whole thought and devoted the
greatest possible pains to make the narrative
complete in all its paris, and ~lmpregnable at
every point He wrote aud re-wrote every
single sentence half a dozen times; he read
it over and over again; he ex mined the
document critically; he put himself in the
place of a hostile and suspicious critic; he
even read it aloud. which is the very best
way possible Of testing the strength Of such
a document, whether from the credible and
the PROBABLE. or from the plausible and per-
suaslve, or from the pure y literary point of
view. He was not greatly skilled, as may be
supposed, in fiction considered as q fine art,
which is, perhaps, the reason why he was quite
satisfied in his own mind with his statement,
looked at from any point Of view.
"Read it." his father repeated. "Let me
hear what you have found. If it is true
He stopped, because he knew not what be
should do If it were true.
The young man hesitated no longer. With
perfectly steady eyes, which met his fathers
tearlessly and frankly, and with brazen
front, nj with clear, unhesitating voice, he
/ Ao0A SuluS Ao AdA AtANo uP.
Before l begin this statement the words
formed part of the narrative-"I wish to ex-
plain that nothing but your express CON-
mand that l should investigate the case for
you would nave induced mo to write down
what I know about it. You will consider it
as, In part, a confession"
Mr.. Murridge looked up sharply aud sus-
piciously.
Yes, as you will presently sec" Dick re-
peated, answering that glance, "a confession.
When the duty of taking up and Investigating
this case was laid upon me, my lips, which
would otherwise have remained shut, as a
point Of honor, were opened. If l did not
obey your command to the fullest extent,
innocent per>ons might be sus, ected and
even be punished. l have, therefore, re.
solved upon telling you all that l know
whatever happens. And since l must write
down tho truth l fray hat no further &C.
ton may he taken in the case, and that this
most deplorable business may be forgotten
and dropped, never to he mentioned again.
What the devil do you moan by thatr'
his father cried. 9TH business forgotten!
The matter allowed to drop! Do l look like
the man to forget such a hing! No further
action, indeedl Wait, you shall see what
.urther action l shall tako!"
Dick did not stop to press this petition for
mercy.
1T is now four weeks" he continued, read.
ing from the paper, since l had the misfor.
tune-it was a great misfortune to me, and
] am very sorry that it happened-to oh.
sorve, quite accidentally, a certain suspicious
circumstance which took place in your own
Office This circumstance caused mo the
greatest uneasiness and suspicion at the
time, and has Il led me with anxiety ever
since. Of course, as you will Immediately
understand, directly you spoke to mo last
week my suspicious turned to certainty. ]
WIS, as usua., in the outer office, and | had
nothing to do but to sit and wait for any
work which might be sent out. The time
was q quarter past two. You were gone out
o you dinner, and tho hoy was gone to his.
There Wa, therefore, no one at all in the
place excep, myself. Before you went GU,
you locked up your safe with your papers in
it. | know that. because, as you pa ,sed
through the outer door, YOU dropped the
keys into your pocket. You left your own
door wide open. A few minutes afterwards
TO my aston. shment, Norah Cronan came in.
Is your tat or inf she asked, in u whisper.
asked her il she knew what timo it was,
and whether she expected II regular man
like YOU to be in at n quarter past two. She
made no reply, but went into your office
very quickly and shut tho door. As she
passed mo | remarked that her face was red
and her eyes LOOKED swo len, as il she had
been crying. | dare say you yourself have
noticed that, for some time past, she has
been out OF ~spiritsf'
MIR: Murridgo grunted; but what he meant
is not known.
"She shut tho door, but, as sometimes
happens, tho lock did not catch, and the
door stood ajar. From the place where !
was sitting l could SEQ through the door,
and could catch something Of what sho was
about ! was not curious, but l looked, and
l observed that she was tearing something
out of a book This was such n strange
thing to do that it caught my eye. Why
should she come to your office, when you
were out, in order to tear leaves out of q
booka 1t certainly seemed to be n book OF
some kind, but from my place l was quite
unable to see what it was, or why she was
tearing it up Then she folded the leavca
very carefully, and SO far as | could soc,
put them in her pocket. After n few minutes
she came out again. OF course l was, by
his time, very curious indeed, but ! asked
no questions. A man does not like to seem
curious arout u thing which he has seen,
SO to speak, through n koyhole. ]
noticed, however, hat her breath
was quick, and that her hand trem-
bled. And she said n very strange
thing to me. Dick she said, when your
father comes back, do not tell him that
came here. lonly came to get something
something which l forgot this morning,
nothing OF any Importance She STAN,
mered a great deal while she said this.
told her that it was no business of mine
whether she came or whether she stayed
away, because ! had nothing to do with her
or her work. Then she laid her hand on my
shoulder and looked into my face. But
promise, Dick she said. You see we are
such old friends, you and I, and Daft is
vour boom friend We ought to be able
to depend on you. Promise, dear Dick; say
that you will never tell your father that l
came to his office any day when he was out
OF it NATURALLY promised. And she went
away. AS soon as she was gone | went into
your office to find out wha, she had been
tearing. il l could, being still curious,
for having made that promise. There
were Two or three great books on the
table, your genealogical books But she
would not Ike likely to tear any of tho leaves
out OF them, tecause they are not the only
copies. looked about. therefore, and pres
emily. poked way under some papers, 1
found your check book lying on the table. l
took it up and examined it. l do not know
why. because | had no suspicion of this kind
Of thing. What was my establishment to
discover that six of the checks had been
taken out Of the book! Six; they were
scat cred here and there, not taken out in
a lump. This. of course, was in order to
lessen the nance Of immediate discovery. 1
never before knew that you were in the
habit of leaving your check book out. This